Chapter 4
Chapter 4 of the Gate - Thus the JSDF Fought There! manga chapter title "Emroy's Apostle" Plot Lelei La Lalena carefully carried a small pile of books towards a heavily loaded cart which stood just outside of the house of the great sage, Cato El Altestan, as the two of them prepared themselves to flee from the Flame Dragon before it arrived to burn Coda Village down like what it did with Koan. Realizing that the cart held too many things, Lelei told Cato that it's impossible to load any more and suggested that they should just leave some of the unimportant things behind. Just as they were nearing the end of their loading, Cato let out a small complaint as the Flame Dargon was expected to only resume its activities in another fifty years and yet it had awakened at this very day. With all the things in place, Lelei took hold of the reins and asked Cato to get on the cart, leading him to crack one of his jokes as he claimed he had no interest to "get on" Lelei who didn't even manage to interest him one bit but would have preferred her sister who had a far sexier body. His sexual harassment angered Lelei and she promptly bombarded him with magic. He immediately begged her to stop, claiming that magic was actually a sacred art and should not be used callously. Just when Lelei did stop her attacks, Cato sighed that she couldn't even take a joke. Lelei replied that adults like him were more likely to break a normal human relationship with his stupid jokes. Cato then commented that he's at an age that get tired easily but Lelei simply retorted that he was tougher than a cockroach. When they finally decided to take their leave, the cart just wouldn't budge as the things loaded onto it weighted it down. Cato the claimed that he was not a simple nobody and that he's actually an Elder Sage so Lelei didn't have to worry about anything. Lelei just repeated what he said earlier, about how many was actually sacred, magic shouldn't be used callously and stared him down until he apologized. She let it go as she understood he's not going to change any time soon. With the problem of the weight taken care of, Lelei guided the cart through Coda Village, passing numerous people who were all trying to load up on essentials before taking to the road to escape from danger. They were stopped half way when they found the a long line of carts blocking the way out of the village. When inquired of what had happened, a villager explained that a carriage had broken down somewhere further up front and was blocking the path of exit. Lelei then noticed a group of unknown men coming from behind. They spoke a language she had never heard before, wearing clothes that had patches of green and tea brown colour all over. She realized that they were not Imperial soldiers, even having females in their ranks as one of them ran past her. Taking interest in what was happening up front, she got off the cart and headed forward, towards the spot where the carriage was said to be blocking the way. Once there, she found a large group of people gathered there and the horse that was used to pull the carriage was struggling to get up while tied down by the harness which connected it to the broken carriage. The family members which the carriage belonged to laid sprawled across the ground and their possessions scattered all over the road, around the overturned carriage. The daughter of the family was badly injured when Lelei checked on the injured family. The female which ran past Cato's cart seemed to have reported about the situation to someone who looked like her superior. Suddenly the horse that had struggled free was about to stomp its front hooves down on Lelei and the injured daughter but was instantly put down by the green men using weapons she didn't understand but the thing that puzzled her the most was that they had actually saved her. Somewhere out in the wilderness, a band of bandits terrorized the peasants as they spread terror through murder, rape and pillaging as they travelled the distance. Nobody could have been able to stop them as the soldiers that were sent to Alnus never came back and the bandits got bolder as a result. Just as the group sat down to enjoy a meal in the night, the leader of the group thought of attacking the refugees from Coda who were said to be fleeing from the Flame Dragon, considering them to be easy picking. Just as he's thinking about replacing the current Lord of the land, a mysterious lady in black gothic lolita outfit lopped his head off his body with a halberd that's shaped like a giant axe. She then called out to the rest of the bandits while standing among the numerous bodies which were all in pieces. She introduced herself as Rory Mercury, an apostle of the God of Darkness Emroy. The names of both the apostle and the god which she worshipped dawned on the remaining bandits which scared them into fleeing for their lives. However, Rory proved to be far too fast for them to run away from as she took their lives one by one like a game of cat and mouse while calmly declaring that death comes to all and that there's no point in trying to run away. The last surviving member of the bandits was running across the field in the dark until Rory caught up to him and dragged him back, screaming and begging. He was then thrown by Rory towards a spot where two dead naked females lied, a handiwork of the bandits. The bandit tried to plea Rory to spare his life but Rory just described his action as pathetic. She explained that her God did not differentiate the death of those from what caste they represented as he bears no interest in what was right or wrong. He regarded all deaths as equal but those who died with a sense of fulfillment were those he took great interest in and that's the reason why she chose to become his disciple. After hearing what she had said, the bandit continued begging to have his life spared and that he would turn over a new leaf. This further disappointed Rory as she considered he didn't even have the worth to be called a man. Following that, she ordered him to dig up three graves. Two for the females and one for the dead men who lied not too far away with the hands the bandit's mother had gracefully given to him upon his birth to the world. He did as he was told, digging and digging and not stopping even when the skin on his hands were cut when he dug. Bloodied and tired he finally finished the graves when he set the simplified tombstones on the three mounds just as the first light of a new day appeared across the horizon. However, he was not relieved when he saw Rory praying at a distance. Doubly so as she got up with her axe at her side. The bandit begged that he had done exactly as was told as he backed away. Rory smiled as she prepared for that one swing. Category:Manga